Major’s Xbox One Tour: The Road to Launch Continues

This week, Xbox announced that we are taking Xbox One to more than 75 different cities around the world!

Beginning October 1 through the end of the year, we’re hitting the road like never before. Among the cities, these include Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Vienna, Paris and Berlin. We’re giving people in the US, Canada and Europe an opportunity to experience many of the great Xbox One games. And when I say “experience,” we’re handing over the controller and giving YOU the opportunity to play these games.

Area One, the name for our travelling game showcase, is where you’ll experience some of the most hotly anticipated Xbox One titles including Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, Killer Instinct, Dead Rising 3, Zoo Tycoon, Max: Curse of the Brotherhood, Lococycle and Crimson Dragon. This is an great opportunity for our Xbox fans to learn about Xbox One and experience why Xbox One takes gameplay to a whole new level.

While attendance and reservations are free of charge, space will be limited. So, if you’re 18 years and older, make sure you and you arrive early. For more information on the Area One Tour, go to xbox.com/onetour.

Area One Tour Dates

Philadelphia Oct. 3-6

Paris Oct. 10-13

Toronto Oct. 10–13

Chicago Oct. 17-20

Vienna Oct. 17-20

Atlanta Oct. 24-27

Dallas Oct.31 – Nov. 3

Berlin Oct. 31 – Nov. 3

Phoenix Nov. 7-10

San Francisco Nov.14-17

Dublin Nov. 14-17

Los Angeles Nov. 21

London Nov. 21-24

In addition, Xbox One will also be taking to the streets to give fans a unique opportunity to try out the Xbox One all-in-one entertainment system with “Test Drive.” Across the US, Canada, UK, Germany, and France, Xbox will cruise the country in custom “Test Drive” vehicles, appearing at festivals, university campuses, retail centers and more in search of gamers ready to take the new generation of entertainment for a spin.

I am anxious to see what people think when they get a chance to play the xbox one. There seems to be such negative press about all the downgrades being reported recently. I pre-ordered both the Xbox One and the PS4 on amazon moments after the announcements from E3, but I am concerned about the Xbox One and how Microsoft seems to be unprepared for the launch of the xbox one… Now that Kinect Sports Rivals has been delayed and I am hearing that many of the launch games are being downgraded since their reveal from E3 (running I believe on a pc???)- I may wait until March or April to get an Xbox One or later… $500 is a lot to ask for a product that is not as powerful as the $400 PS4 (and even-though I like the idea of a kinect that actually works there doesn’t seem to be a game at launch that really lets the kinect 2.0 shine)… I want to hear what actually people that played the games are saying… let the TRUTH come out…

Still not clear… They should not allow news like “we downgraded Ryse to 900 p” or “KI in 720p – we are justs freeing the resources”. Dude, even the Forza 5 devs saying they already using 100% power. This is REALLY bad PR and should not be allowed. They screw it all up

Even though I have my XB1 preordered, I believe this is very UNWISE for MS. No one will judge “by games” only after such news

You listen to us, Major, make these devs stop with all these “truths”, this will make no good, especially with new Steam initiatives and AMD mantles, XBOX is aleady becoming the weakest link.

But these are the decisions that game companies make all the time while finalizing the product. They want to make sure the user has the best experience and they have to make some sacrifices to gain some improvements. This is nothing new. This happens no matter which platform you’re playing on.

If you read what the Greenawalt said he meant what the system can offer. All he was trying to prove with that statement was that they’ve been working with MS for a long time on this and they have a great head start at utilizing everything. Heck, even MS will keep adjusting the system as the years go on through software updates. Just like every other hardware company out there.

Thats what im saying – they should think how their text is looking for the people. And for some reasons people are not mocking “finalazations” from Sony – because they can present themselves even having dozens less money for PR and marketing

Im justs saying MS needs stronger public relations control. They need to think before they say what can be understood wrongly or say nothing at all. That will be much more effective than putting another billion into advertisements later on trying to remake an impression. They could put this billion into games and infrastructure

“kinect that actually works there doesn’t seem to be a game at launch that really lets the kinect 2.0 shine”

Todd,

That is because we live in a universe where Man can’t defy the Laws of the Universe (Physics). A camera in most instances will never make it as an input device for most game types other than dancing, basic web cam game clones from the 90s, and kids games.

People like myself warned the people about the K1 are the same ones warning about the K2. It doesn’t matter if you can track bones or even if latency is improved… it has limited ability to assist the input of data for video games. Which is why virtually all major studios dumped it years ago… even Ryse dumped it.

You can buy whatever device you want, but if you buy this device for other than basic game play as mentioned before… prepare to be disappointed.

I just cancelled my “Day One” pre-order from amazon. I am not a huge Sony fan and I don’t hate Microsoft, but for me going with the PS4 now is a better decision. I will go with the cheaper option now (PS4) and wait and see how the Xbox One does (I want the device to succeed)- but I will wait to jump in… I can’t wait to hear all the reviews…

My brother-in-law is still getting the Xbox One- I’ll check it out when he gets his. Hopefully there are no hardware issues with this launch.

Why is it that there are never any events in the Washington, DC area?!?!? It’s not like we’re a backwater. If you include Baltimore there’s 9.3 million people in this area. I can’t believe Scottsdale, Arizona gets an event and we don’t.

I don’t understand why these events are in so few cities. Is it really that expensive to host one of these events? For example, there are no events in Texas. Houston has twice the population as Phoenix, and Austin is a big game development nexus.

For the “Failure” that the gaming community has dubbed the Xbox One based on the following factors: Forced Kinect no one wants, $100 higher price tag no one wants to pay, paywall blocking apps competitors let use for free, the previous Xbox policies that everyone hated, the new 180 polices everyone hates, the focus on “TV” and not games, the lack of international launch countries with no voice commands working outside the USA, and lastly but not least, employing Don Mattrick.

Yeah…Cause you know the millions and millions of internet posts across the hundreds of gaming sites have all been me. Seriously dude, open your eyes. I’m a huge Xbox fan and even I see all the hate and dislike for the Xbox One right now, and I honestly can’t say I disagree with most of it.

Actually I am a very anti-Sony fanboy, if that makes any sense. I never even played a PS3 and have no intention of ever touching a PS4 either.

How does stating that a number of sites (and I’m not talking about Sony fan sites either) are using this term make me a fanboy?

The reality is that I had very high hopes for the next Xbox and was terribly disappointed by the lackluster specs, the included Kinect, and the original online required policies (which they thankfully reversed, for now).

Its great that Microsoft has the confidence in their console to allow gamers the chance to play before launch. Microsoft doesn’t need to apologize for their vision of a digital future. You can’t make everyone happy no matter what you do. I really like the fact that Kinect is included with each console. Its part of the system. Its not being forced on gamers. It will make game development for the peripheral more enticing for programmers. Its better to sale a console for what its worth than to undercut your competitors by taking out peripherals and taking a 60.00 loss per console like Sony is doing.I am excited to play my Xbox One and can’t wait to play Kinect games as well as the core games. The Xbox One has so much to offer and is definitely a well rounded gaming machine.

Can we please pre-order Digital Download codes for all Xbox One titles? Set it up with Gamestop, Bestbuy, Amazon, etc…to where we can pre-order Xbox One Digital Download codes. The stores wouldn’t be losing their share of the money…just set it up to where no matter which they sell, disc or DD code, they still get their “cut”.

There are games like Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts that have pre-order bonuses…but I was really wanting to go all Digital Download with the Xbox One. But I won’t be able to do that unless you allow retailers to let us pre-order the Digital Download codes to use on Day One.

Please…get the ball rolling with pre-ordering Digital Download codes for all titles for the Xbox One!!! 😀

Yeah, but android and ios are mainly on portale devices. To see some movie on android player i need to check five different movie players. I dont want such experience on xbox one. Better be less but good working apps.

Well, at the rate MS is working you’ll be lucky to just get a handful since they really don’t have a plan or have released a plan as far as I know…. they keep saying post launch. They have also said there will be one Windows Store…. no real details.

The only thing they have done up to now is give indie developers a chance to apply to be a part of their developer program, essentially where MS approves the developer.

This is actually a repost of someones comment from another site, but it does make you think. Curious on what Major Nelsons thoughts are:

“What is Microsoft’s goal with Kinect? I’m confused. Are they trying to replace gamepads with Kinect? Or are they going to market their super powerful camera only as an optional supplementary/auxiliary device? As impressive as Kinect is, I’m still not clear on what Microsoft is trying to do with it.

– If they’re trying to replace gamepads with Kinect they have two problems: The range of controls with Kinect, and the latency issue. Kinect is great for game that doesn’t require you to navigate your characters around, you can easily control the movement of your character’s upper body, the head, the arms. But what are you going to do to move your character? Can you imagine how inaccurate the movement will be? And even if you can, Kinect will never be as fast or as responsive as a gamepad, there will be a slight delay with Kinect reading and interpreting your movements and the console processing your inputs.

– If Microsoft is trying to market Kinect simply as an optional auxiliary device or a peripheral for niche games. Isn’t Kinect too powerful for simple tasks like that? It’s a waste of R&D for a super powerful device to only be used for menu navigation, speech and gesture recognition for optional controls in mainstream games, or for niche genres like dancing, racing and party games.

If Microsoft is going to include Kinect with every Xbox One and charging $100 more than their competitor, they need to show that Kinect is not just another optional camera that gamers will rarely use. They either need to find a way to improve Kinect as a competent replacement for gamepads, or at least make Kinect a bigger part of controls in mainstream games. They need a Kinect exclusive game (preferably an action game) to really prove Kinect works. I thought Ryse and Crimson Dragon were supposed to be those games? How come Ryse went from “only works with Kinect” in E3 2011, to “better with Kinect” in E3 2012, to “providing squad commands through speech and gesture with Kinect” in E3 2013. What? Crytek couldn’t find a way to make Kinect work in their game? They had 3 years to develop that game for Kinect (granted there was a platform change from 360 to One at some point).”

Doesn’t matter if you attach a blender to it or a hammer, as a input device the same limitations apply as does a web cam. Proof is in the pudding you would think 3 years would be enough for you to learn that, apparently not.

I assume you are saying, if you wave your hand you can change the channel, sure…. if that is your thing, but it will not be as fast as a controller… and voice recognition can be done to do the same thing without a camera.

As a real gaming device other than what has been mentioned, it’s DOA just like V1 for the exact same reasons.

No, I was talking about the IR to track devices. So you can basically move the remote from side to side and it’ll know. Like the DR3 demo where the zombie was on the car and they jerked the remote to the left to knock it off. And you can switch remotes and it’ll know to switch profiles and such

So sign-in… this basically takes two or three clicks on a controller. Still not being used as a primary input device for a game. It’s doing normal camera work, I mean apple is using fingerprints on their iOS devices… I guess it’s okay but as a input device for gaming it’s DOA.

What is funny is I couldn’t even use a camera with my system… I have a freaking front projector…

so my question to you is this….. you mention needing to reserve space to the area one tour. the like you posted is either dead or broken or only works on the American site. I am in the Toronto area and would like to attend the tour but I would like some information on it. on a side note….. are you not able to make the Toronto stop of the tour?

Now I see that there are two different kinds of tours going on. Only certain places get the full “Area One” experience, and many others get “Test Drive” experiences. Minnesota ones are the more limited “Test Drive” option. 😦 No wonder you aren’t coming here. 😦

You are so lucky. The Halo 3 launch night is the second greatest night of my life. I came home, started it at 1:17am, and played it through in one sitting. I then bawled my eyes out for like 15 minutes straight.